Southern Wesleyan University

Southern Wesleyan University
Motto	"Quality Education with a Christian Perspective "
Established	1906
Type	Christian
Religious affiliation	Wesleyan Church
President	Dr. David J. Spittal
Provost	Dr. R. Keith Iddings
Students	2400
Undergraduates	1600
Location	Central, South Carolina, USA 34°43′27.6″N 82°46′18.9″W / 34.724333°N 82.771917°W / 34.724333; -82.771917
Campus	Main in Central South Carolina, Multiple Branches South Carolina
Former names	Wesleyan Methodist College (1909-1959) Central Wesleyan College (1959-1994)
Colors	Blue and Gold
Athletics	[1]
Nickname	SWU
Mascot	Warriors
Affiliations	NCCAA, NAIA,
Website	www.swu.edu

Southern Wesleyan University is a four-year and graduate Christian college, with its main campus in the town of Central, South Carolina. The university was founded in 1906 by what is now the Wesleyan Church.

The school prepares students for leadership and graduate study in such fields as business, education, religion, music, medicine, law and a variety of civic and social service professions. It offers approximately 35 major areas of study for undergraduates and also offers graduate degrees in the areas of business, education and ministry. The university currently serves approximately 2,400 students. There are more than 600 traditional undergraduates enrolled at the main campus in Central, S.C. In addition, undergraduate and graduate programs are offered in an accelerated format at regional learning centers in Central, Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, North Augusta, Greenwood and Spartanburg.

The school has 10 intercollegiate athletic teams. Three of these—men's soccer and men's and women's basketball—have traveled to other countries on short-term mission trips within the last few years. In 2007, women's basketball and men's baseball teams won their respective National Christian College Athletic Association national championships.

General information

Rickman Library at Southern Wesleyan University

Southern Wesleyan University (SWU) occupies a 250-acre (101 ha) campus near the town of Central, S.C.

Freedom's Hill – the first Wesleyan Methodist church built in the South has been relocated to Southern Wesleyan University.^{[citation needed]} The renovated chapel is now used by SWU students and for special events.

Accreditation

Southern Wesleyan University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The School of Education is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education for the teacher education programs at the undergraduate and masters levels. Degree programs in Music and Music Education are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.

History

The school was founded in 1906 as a result of a prayer meeting in a field that is now part of the main campus. Representatives of Wesleyan Methodist churches in South Carolina and surrounding states met at Central to consider the possibility of establishing a college. Classes at the university began on October 15, 1906. Initially known as the Wesleyan Methodist Bible Institute (1906–1908), subsequent names included Wesleyan Methodist College (1909–1959) and Central Wesleyan College (1959–1994). The school was renamed Southern Wesleyan University in 1994.

A campus fixture for nearly 60 years, Smith Hall was the first building constructed on College Hill. When it opened in 1906, it housed the chapel, six classrooms, administrative space and a small library collection. In 1916, construction was completed on Grimes Hall, which became the central campus landmark until the early 1970s. The building served classroom and administrative purposes, as well as chapel, library and dining hall at times. Since then the campus has expanded to nearly 20 buildings over 250 acres (101 ha).

For a number of years the college operated was a two-year junior college, except for the four-year theological program. For many years elementary and secondary school classes were offered as well. In the late 1950s, the pre-college programs were phased out, and the college moved to a full four-year program. The junior college program had previously received accreditation, but Central Wesleyan College (as the school was then called) was accredited to award bachelor's degrees in 1973.^{[by whom?]} The university is now accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate's, bachelor's and master's degrees.

In addition to the traditional program, in 1986 a nontraditional program for working adults was added. Initially known as Leadership Education for Adult Professionals (LEAP), the program has now expanded to several degree programs operating under the title of Adult and Graduate Studies (AGS). The initial LEAP program offered a bachelor's degree in management. An associate's degree in business began in 1988. Master's degree programs in Christian Ministries and Management were added in 1990. Master's programs in Business Administration and Education began in 2002.

Fine arts division

The spacious Newton Hobson Chapel and Fine Arts Center was opened in August 2008. All Fine Arts classrooms, practice rooms, chapel, etc. are held in this new building.

Music degrees

Music B.S.

The B.S. in music, a general degree, provides the student with a foundation in musical studies while giving elective opportunity for study in a secondary area which often integrates with music, e.g., business or computers. Although an applied performance degree is not offered, some B.A. in music majors concentrate in performance by taking additional hours in applied areas of study, particularly in their freshman and sophomore years.

Music Education

The B.A. in Music Education prepares an individual for certification as a music teacher in the South Carolina schools. Students pursuing this degree also serve in private school music programs as well as private applied music instructors.

Music B.S. (Church Music Emphasis)

The B.S. in Music with a church music emphasis prepares an individual to serve as a minister of music in a local church setting.

Ensembles

Performance ensembles consist of music and other students. All students who perform in ensembles are eligible to receive scholarships. Performing ensembles include Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, Gospel Choir, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, several vocal and instrumental quartets and the ministry teams—University Singers and The Difference.

Faculty

SWU Administration Building

The Southern Wesleyan University faculty consists of approximately 55 individuals with teaching responsibility plus several others with administrative responsibilities. Most of the full-time faculty members have earned doctorates in their respective fields. In addition, a number of adjunct instructors have teaching responsibilities in both the traditional and AGS programs.

Dormitories

Childs Hall

Childs Hall, the oldest dormitory on campus (1947), originally served as an all male facility. It was recently converted into an all female dorm. Childs has 38 single or double occupancy rooms on 3 floors, with a computer lab on the first floor and a kitchen/lounge on the third floor. There are additional rooms in the basement as well as washing machines and dryers. An apartment on the first floor houses the Resident Director.^[1]

Mullinax

Mullinax Hall, completed in 2005, is Southern Wesleyan's newest dormitory. Mullinax, an upperclassmen dorm, has the feel of suite style hotel rooms with each pair of rooms sharing a bathroom. It has 78 rooms on 4 floors for residents. In the basement there are washers and dryers, a game room, a computer lab, and an apartment for the Resident Director.^[2]

North & South Apartments

The apartments, for upperclassmen, offer four rooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen in each apartment. There are 35 apartments in use, with a capacity of 140 students. One apartment is used for the Resident Director. The twin apartment buildings were completed in 2000.^[3]

Stuart-Bennett

Stuart-Bennett, the second oldest dormitory on campus, was constructed in 1963 and enlarged in 1966. A disastrous fire destroyed the original female dorm, McDonald Hall, in December 1962. In its place a new dorm was constructed and named in honor of the two victims of the fire, Myrna Stuart and Crystal Bennett. While this building served previously as a women's dorm, it now has separate floors for male and female students. Stuart-Bennett has 94 available rooms on five floors. In addition, there are bathrooms on each floor. There is a lounge on the fourth floor. On the first floor, there is a nurse's station, a computer lab in the lobby, a glassed lounge in the lobby nicknamed the "fishbowl," and an apartment for the Resident Director.^[4]

Resident life

Student Life

Currently Dr. Joe Brockinton is the vice president for student life and has been there for several years. He resides over the student government (SGA), the student activities club (SAC), athletics, first year experience, counseling, retention, and overall student life. Under Dr. Brockinton there is Mia Horace, the Associate Vice President for Student Life, and a student life cabinet, which is made up of 6 directors. Some of the directors include Carol Sinnaomn, Beth Stuart, Chris Williams, and Phillip Pranger. Mia Horace has almost completed her first year at SWU and has made an impact on the student life through her various interactions with the students. Dr. Joe's wife, Willa, also works at SWU as the Assistant Director for Conference Services under Chuck Mealy. Southern Wesleyan's goal for student life is to integrate faith, living, and learning into students education and to cultivate strong men and women who desire to embody the character of Christ.^[5]

Resident Directors

One of the directors is the director for resident life named Phillip Pranger. Phillip Pranger has currently been at Southern Wesleyan for 5 years as the head Resident Director (RD). He is the main RD for Mullinax residence hall and resides over three other RDs, which are Chris Collins, Jason Tegen, and Heather Cromer. Phil leads the "RA team", which is a team made up of all the RD's of the resident halls and all of the resident assistants. Each year Phil takes the RA team on two retreats, one at the beginning of the first and second semesters, to prepare the team for general student life. Phil instills in his team the importance of loving people and showing people God's love.

The RD for the Apartments is Chris Collins. Chris Collins is a recent Indiana Wesleyan graduate and is experiencing his first year at SWU as an RD. He is also head of Student Activities and the Student Activities Club (SAC) for SWU. The SAC has been highly important to the student life at SWU due to the various events that they put on and bring to student life. Some events have included concerts, American gladiators, super bowl parties, and New Year's Eve parties. SAC has a high amount of student involvement and input, which has been important to its success.

The RD for Stuart-Bennett since 2007 has been Jason Tegen. He, his wife of six years, Kelley Tegen and 11-month-old son Levi live on the first floor of the “Stu-B” dorm. Both Jason and Kelley are alumni of Southern Wesleyan University. Their job, like the other RDs, entails a lot of administrative work but the other big part of the job supports the idea of community and spiritual growth inside and outside the dorm.

Heather Cromer is in her first year as the RD of Childs Hall in 2010-2011. She and her husband Eric Cromer of 8 months are also alumni of Southern Wesleyan University. Heather graduated with an education major and played on SWU's volleyball team for three years. Eric graduate from SWU with Honors and ran Cross Country at SWU. Both Heather and Eric were Resident Assistants during their time at SWU. Heather is head over the female only dorm and hopes to build community and unity amongst not only her Childs girls, but also with the other students around campus.

Resident Assistants

Resident Assistants (RA's) at SWU play an important role in student life. RA's live with the students in the dorms and are responsible for their safety and well-being while at SWU. Each semester RA's put on "hall events" which are events that engage students spiritually, socially, academically, and cross-culturally. Aside from hall events, RA's perform health and safety checks once a month and are required to be on duty in the dorms one night a week and a couple of weekends out of the semester. The main goal of the RA team is to aid and guide students in both their spiritual walk and general walk in life and show them God's love throughout their time at SWU.^[6]

Photo gallery

• Views of Southern Wesleyan University Campus
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  Administration Building

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  Intercession Square

• 

  Rickman Library

Student activities

Athletics

Southern Wesleyan competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). Both at the Division I level. SWU is also a member of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC), which includes 12 schools in the states of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The SSAC conference is divided into two parts: East and West. The student-athlete mission statement is raising the standard of athletic excellence while remaining committed to the mission of Southern Wesleyan University.

Southern Wesleyan University features 10 intercollegiate sports.

Southern Wesleyan athletics includes a wide variety of men's and women's programs. The athletics programs include:

For male athletes

• Baseball
  • The SWU baseball team plays on Conner Field. The current head coach is Mike Gillespie and the current assistant coaches are Bryan Swords, Michael Land, Guy Howard, Chad Drosieko (Grad Assistant) and Matt Crowe (Student Assistant). In 2007 the SWU baseball team was awarded the NCCAA National Championship.
• Basketball
  • The SWU Men's basketball team plays in the Tysinger Gym. The current head coach is Charles Wimphrie. The current assistant coaches are James Herman, Robert Woods, Charles Holland, and Byron Wimphrie.
  • The SWU Men's Junior Varsity team also plays in the Tysinger Gym. The current head coach is James Herman.
• Soccer
  • The Men's soccer team plays on Child's field. The current head coach is Camilo Rodriguez. The current assistant coaches are Justin Peterson and Chad Perry.
• Golf
  • The Men's Golf team at various courses and has hosted a tournament at a local course. The current head coach is Doug Wilkinson.
• Cross country
  • The Men's Cross Country team conducts their meets on SWU's campus. The current head coach is Chip Rouse.

For female athletes

• Basketball
  • The Women's basketball team plays in thy Tysinger gym. The current head coach is John Davis. The current assistant coaches are Emily Germain, Kesha Smith, and Kristina McKinley. In 2007 the SWU Women's basketball team was awarded the NCCAA National Championship.
• Softball
  • The Women's softball team plays on the Varsity Softball field. The current head coach is Ed Deugan. The current assistant coach are Brook Burton.
• Cross country
  • The Women's Cross Country team conducts their meets on SWU's campus. The current head coach is Chip Rouse.
• Soccer
  • The Women's soccer team plays on Child's field. The current head coach is Tom Price. The current assistant coach is Gus Mota.
• Volleyball
  • The Women's volleyball team plays in Tysinger Gym. The current head coach is Jennifer Ellis. The current assistant coach is Stephanie Rodriguez.

Recreation

Southern Wesleyan University students have a variety of recreational opportunities. Tysinger Gymnasium houses a basketball court, a workout gym and an activity room. The university has a full-size tennis court. Intramural sports include basketball, ultimate frisbee and flag football.

Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU)

Southern Wesleyan University's Chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ started in September 2009. Campus Crusade holds weekly meetings and is in the process of starting a praise and worship. CRU at SWU is a sister chapter of Clemson University Campus Crusade. The main goal of the organization is to reach out to everyone in our local community.

The Campus Crusade for Christ organization sponsors various ministry opportunities. These include mission trips around the world. These trips are better known as Summer Projects. In addition, there are spring break ministry trips, various retreats and conferences throughout the year, and a regional conference called Encounter, which is held in late December and early January.

Discipleship groups

Every semester after Spiritual Emphasis Week, discipleship groups are formed for students.^{[by whom?]} Discipleship groups are led by both students and faculty members. The groups focus on various topics. Arrangements are under the direction of the Director of Worship and Discipleship.

Student Government Association

The SWU Student Government Association "consists of nineteen voting members and functions as both an active liaison between the students and administration and a project-oriented organization that mobilizes students to address campus and community concerns. Positions are obtained by election or application."^[7] The association is divided into two main sections: the executive board, whose members oversee specific areas of the scope of responsibilities and activities of association, and the class-specific representatives, who mainly focus on organizing activities for their class, fundraising and managing the funds for those activities, and giving their class a voice in association.

Ministry teams

Southern Wesleyan University offers opportunities for students to be involved with a ministry team that is funded by the university. There are three types of ministry teams sent out by the university and they are as follows:

Recreation ministry teams

In oder to be accepted for a position on one of the three recreation team, a student must fill out an application that can be picked up from the Spiritual Life office, have two people who know you fill out reference forms and turn them into the Spiritual Life Office, and sign up for a designated interview time with the Spiritual Life staff. This process takes place at the beginning of each spring semester and the people who are to be placed on the teams will be contacted soon after the process has taken place. The three recreation teams then get together with their respective teams in order to assign positions, pick a team name, and take team pictures to be used in their promotion items.

• Duties:
  • Each of these three teams travel to different Christian Summer Camps during the months of June and July. At these summer camps the member of the ministry teams will fill the positions of counselors, security, or any other positions that the staff at the camp will need in order to run a successful summer camp.
  • At the end of the summer travel schedule the duties of the members are complete.

Recreation Teams are supplied with a fifteen passenger van to travel in for the summer. The team is also issued cash, a credit card, and gas cards to pay for highway tolls, food, overnight stays in hotels, and gas.^[8]

The Difference

In order to be accepted for a position on The Difference a student must fill out an application that can be picked up from the Spiritual Life office, have two people who know you fill out reference forms and turn them into the Spiritual Life Office, and sign up for a designated interview and audition time with the Spiritual Life staff. This process takes place at the end of every fall semester and the students picked to fill the team will be notified by December of that semester. The team then comes back to campus for the following spring semester to begin practice for their travels.

• Duties:
  • The Difference is a team that travels and leads worship at churches, events, and summer camps.
  • The Difference travels for an entire year from January to December.
    • During the Spring and Fall semester The Difference will travel a total of 10 times per semester and lead worship at Churches, retreats, and other events.
    • During the Summer travel, which is during the months of June and July, The Difference will lead worship at summer camps as well as fill the positions of counselors, security, or any other positions that the staff at the camp will need in order to run a successful summer camp.

The Difference is provided a sound system to travel with during their year under contract, as well as a fifteen passenger van with a trailer to transport their equipment. The team is also issued cash, a credit card, and gas cards to pay for highway tolls, food, overnight stays in hotels, and gas.^[9]

University Singers

In order to be accepted for a position on the University Singers a student must fill out an application that can be picked up from the Spiritual Life office, have two people who know you fill out reference forms and turn them into the Spiritual Life Office, and sign up for a designated interview and audition time with the Spiritual Life staff. This process takes place as positions open and need to be filled. University Singers is directed by Rev. Gail Kerstetter and accompanied by Rev. Bob Kerstetter.

• Duties:
  • The University Singers are a vocal group who travel to different churches and events to perform Christian music.
  • The University Singers only travel during the semesters and receive the summer off.

The University Singers are provided a sound system to travel with during their year under contract, as well as a fifteen passenger van with a trailer to transport their equipment. The team is also issued cash, a credit card, and gas cards to pay for highway tolls, food, overnight stays in hotels, and gas.^[10]

Further information

Each member of any of the ministry teams receive a scholarship that will go towards their tuition, divided equally in half to cover two semesters. The recreation teams as well as The Difference receive weekly pay checks during the summer of travel to supply them with money for their needs during travel.

Notable graduates

• Jo Anne Lyon, Honorary doctorate, General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church
• Paul Martin Newby, Honorary doctorate, Member of the state supreme court
• George Alan Rekers, Baptist pastor and anti-gay rights campaigner
• Dan Seaborn, Marriage counselor, public speaker

See also

• Fellowship of Christian Athletes
• Southern States Athletic Conference

References

• SWU athletics website

1. ^ "Childs Hall". SWU. http://www.swu.edu/student_life/housing/housing-childs.htm. 
2. ^ "Mullinax Hall". SWU. http://www.swu.edu/student_life/housing/housing-mullinax.htm. 
3. ^ "Apartments". SWU. http://www.swu.edu/student_life/housing/housing-apartments.htm. 
4. ^ "Stu-b". SWU. http://www.swu.edu/student_life/housing/stuart-bennett.htm. 
5. ^ "Student Life". Southern Wesleyan University. http://www.swu.edu/student_life/index.htm. 
6. ^ "get involved". SWU. http://www.swu.edu/student_life/involved.htm. 
7. ^ Student Government Association
8. ^ "Ministry Teams at SWU". http://www.swu.edu/spiritual_life/ministry_teams/index.htm. 
9. ^ "Ministry Teams - The Difference". http://www.swu.edu/spiritual_life/u-difference/index.htm. 
10. ^ "Ministry Teams - University Singers". http://www.swu.edu/spiritual_life/university_singers2/index.htm. 

External links

• SWU official website
• SWU athletics website
• Campus map
• Fine Arts Division
• Ignite
• Official NAIA site
• Southern States Athletic Conference
• Campus Crusade for Christ International